


New Beginings

by Destialforever



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:28:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24175123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destialforever/pseuds/Destialforever
Summary: Takes place at the end of Season 1Episode WildfireThe reader meets the group as they travel to the CDC after her entire group is wiped out by walkers.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Original Female Character(s), Daryl Dixon/Reader, Daryl Dixon/You
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28
Collections: Dark Days





	New Beginings

**Author's Note:**

> Unbetad
> 
> Can be read as a stand alone   
> or  
> As a prequel to "Types"

My group is all dead. The leader decided to go through Atlanta for supplies and as a shortcut.  
I tried to talk them all out of it but they wouldn’t listen and just hurled insults at me.  
I was weak.  
I was spineless.  
But now they’re all dead and i’m still alive. But i’m all alone.   
You can’t survive in this world alone. Not unless you know things like hunting and survival.  
And I don't.  
So here I am walking trying to get out of Atlanta alive. No weapons, just a piece of wood I found in the street. It isn’t enough but it’s better than nothing.  
I think I hear engines but who would be crazy enough to try and drive in this mess.

A minute later I see an RV, an older model one just driving along. There are other vehicles with it.  
This might be my only chance so i start waving my arm hoping that maybe just maybe i’m about to get lucky.  
They all stop and a tall man in a police uniform gets out of one of them.  
He walks over to me.  
“What’s your name? Why are you out here all alone?” he asks  
“My name is Y/N. I was with a larger group but they decided to take a short cut through the city. I’m the only one still alive.” I said  
“My names Rick Grimes It’s nice to meet you Y/N.” Rick said  
“It’s to meet you too...I was starting to get worried that i was all alone here except for THEM.” i said  
He smiled   
“Stay here one minute ok.” Rick siad  
“Ok.” Not like i had anywhere else to be

I watch him walk over to the RV and talk to a dark haired man standing next to it.  
Then he turns around and waves me closer.  
“Y/N this is Shane . The folks in the RV are Dale , Glenn and Jacqui .  
If you want you can come with us you’ll ride here in the RV. You should know we’re on our way to the CDC. Do you want to come? I hate the idea of leaving you all alone.” Rick said  
“Yes i’d like to come with y'all thank you.” I said ducking my head down. I was worried I was going to cry.   
I always took a lot of flack when I got emotional. I don't want to risk this group changing their mind and leaving me behind.  
“Come on honey let’s get you settled in.” The woman Jacqui said  
I just nod

I didn’t understand why they’d want to come into the city or go to the CDC but I couldn't afford to not go with them.  
I wouldn’t make it by myself, I knew that.   
So far everyone seems nice. I hope the others are nice too.  
It’s getting closer to being dark out, that's a bad thing. Dark and this new world don’t mix.  
You can’t see THEM when it’s dark out. The people in the RV told me they used to be part of a bigger group but their camp was attacked by THEM but they call them Walkers.  
Walkers well I guess it’s as good a name as any. I doubt the walkers care what we call them.

We finally arrived at the CDC. It looked like it was locked up tight.  
The others were getting upset and the walkers were coming. They were trying to get Rick to leave but he said he saw the camera move and he was right it did move.  
But that didn’t mean there were people inside.  
Just as we were about to head back to the vehicles the door to the building opened and light poured out.

We stepped into the lobby of the CDC  
We saw a man holding a large gun . I stepped back a little, you never know about people now.  
I felt someone grab my hand and pull me back. When I glanced at the person I saw that I was one of the men from another vehicle.  
Short brown hair , a beard , shirt with no sleeves and a crossbow.  
He pulled me to stand behind him. I was fine with that .   
The man asked us if any of us were infected and what we wanted.  
Rick told him that one of them had been but he hadn’t made it and that we just wanted a chance.  
The man said that’s asking alot these days. And he’s not wrong .  
The man said we could come in but we had to let him take blood for a test.  
Seems reasonable to me. Rick thought so too.   
The man said for us to get what we need from outside because once the front door closed it wouldn’t open again. The way he said it worried me a bit. But I knew better than to say anything.   
I was new here and they wouldn’t listen to me. Hell my old group knew me and they wouldn’t listen to me.  
Best just to keep my mouth closed and my head down.

We went to a room and had our blood taken. When the woman named Andrea went to stand up she almost fell. Miss Jacqui helped her.  
When the man whose name is Dr. Jenner asked if she was ok. Miss Jacqui told him none of us had eaten in days.  
And that’s true it had been 3 days since i had anything other than water

Dr. Jenner took us to a dining area and kitchen so that we could eat.   
Everyone was happy and laughing.   
I wanted to be happy and laugh too but i had a bad feeling about all this.  
After we ate and the Doctor told us about what was going on . Which basically he didn’t seem to really know much.  
Then he took us to a hallway full of offices. He said we could sleep in those and told us where the bathroom was but said not to use too much hot water.  
OMG hot water I haven’t had a hot shower since before this all started.  
Almost everyone was well past tipsy at this point; I was one of the few who wasn’t.  
I took as long as I could in the bathroom because who knew when I'd get this chance again.  
As I was walking out to go find a room to stay in I saw the man Rick called Shane stomping towards me.  
He looked up and at me the next thing I knew I was pinned to the wall.

Before I could say anything Shane was yanked away from me and thrown into the other wall.  
“What the hell are you doing?” It was the brown haired man they said his name was Daryl  
“Mind your own business and leave us alone.” Shane said  
“Do you want me to leave you alone with him?” Daryl asked looking at me  
“No” I said. Because I didn't, there was a look in Shanes eyes that I didn't trust.  
I’ve been around men like him before. They seem ok till you make them mad then they get mean. Really mean.  
“She doesn’t want to be alone with you. Leave her be.” Daryl said  
Shane just stepped forward then stormed away down the hall.  
“Hey you can share with me if you want. I'll sleep on the floor and you can have the sofa. Ok?” Daryl asked, turning to look at me.  
“Ok” I said I don’t know why but I trust him.  
As we were getting settled in for the night I didn't feel concerned about being alone with him.  
If anything i felt safe.. Safer then in a very long time.  
I may actually get some sleep tonight. That would be nice. I haven't really slept since this all started. I just nap for short periods . Then wake up and listen for the walkers then try and get a little more of a nap in.

I woke up slowly. I realized I must be the first one awake . Everything was still quiet.  
I looked down to where Daryl was sleeping on the floor and saw that he was still sleeping soundly.  
I didn’t want to wake him but i knew i wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. And that’s when an idea came to me.  
There used to be a lot more people here than Dr. Jenner i might be able to find some useful things.  
The Doctor won’t need female items and we definitely will so what would be the harm in doing a little exploring.  
He said the housing level was shut down but that didn’t mean I wouldn't be able to look around with a flashlight.  
I had a seperate bag that I carried that just had empty bags folded up in it because you never know when you’ll need a bag to gather supplies.  
So I went and quietly got dressed and then grabbed that bag and a flashlight.  
I looked around as I left the room but it was quiet and nothing was moving.  
So I went and found a map on the wall that showed what was on what level I decided to start on the housing level.  
I started at the end and worked my way back going through every room that I could get into.  
Most were unlocked but there was the occasional one that had a locked door. I left those alone who knew there could be walkers in them.  
I was gathering up a good bit of stuff from clothes to toiletries and even food.  
I also found more bags so I made sure to take those to .

I’d been working down there for a couple of hours when I decided that I really should put these somewhere where we would be able to get to them easy if we had to leave fast.  
See i didn’t like the look on Jenner's face last night and that thing on the wall that was counting down worried me. I saw something like that in a movie once and it didn’t end well for anyone.  
I decided to put them by the front door in the lobby where we came in so I could tuck them off to the side. They would be out of the way and safe but still close on hand if we had to run.

Maybe I'm being paranoid but i can’t keep the worry out of my mind.  
I was able to go through most of the rooms on the housing level so I had a lot of stuff.  
After I got it all moved I went back to the level we were staying on and noticed that everyone was getting up and heading into eat.  
T-Dog was cooking.  
Daryl gave me a funny look as I walked in and sat down. I just smiled back at him.  
I know he was probably wondering where I was when he woke up. I suppose i should have left a note. 

Everyone was quieter this morning you could see which ones had over indulged the night before.  
Poor Glenn looks sickly.  
T-Dog commented on the scratches on the side of Shanes face. Daryl looked at me and I shook my head. I hadn’t done that.  
But I noticed the look Shane sent Lori when he thought no one was watching.  
Well that explained a few things. Reminds me of one of those soap operas my momma would watch when I was young.  
There was always drama and love triangles. And they never ended well. Someone always ended up hurt or worse.  
I turned my head and looked at Daryl. I managed to catch his eye and tilted my head towards Lori and Shane then raised my eyebrow.   
He just rolled his eyes, nodded and mouthed the word LATER to me. I nodded  
Here we are back in the control room with the count down thing.  
Watching someone die on the big screen. So sad. It didn’t really answer a lot, it actually just brought up more questions.  
Then out of nowhere Dr. Jenner just walked out.  
Rick asked the computer a question . Shut down sounds bad.   
Rick ,Shane , Glenn and T-Dog ran out of the room and down the hall.   
Everyone else went to their rooms. I followed Daryl back to the room we were sharing.

“Where were you this morning?” Daryl asked  
“I woke up really early so I decided to do some exploring and try to gather some supplies. I have a bad feeling about this place.” I said  
“Yeah me too….” He said  
“I think i may go and try and gather up some more stuff.. That shut down stuff sounded bad.” I said  
“Yeah ok you go do that . I’ll head over to where we were eating and bag some stuff up. Where are you putting everything? Cause it’s not in here.” He said  
“Down in the lobby where we came in last night. I thought if we have to leave in a hurry that’s the best place.” i said  
“Yeah you’re right. I gather what I can and I'll take our bags down there too. Just to be safe.” Daryl said, turning to pack his bag up.  
My bags were already packed and sitting by the sofa ready to go.  
“Ok i’ll be back in a bit.” i said walking out the door   
I grabbed my bag full of bags. I had gathered another bag and shoved empty bags into it.  
I offered that one to Daryl.  
“It’s full of empty bags to use.” I said  
He took it and nodded

With that we separated to go gather things.  
We passed each other a time or two while we were taking bags to drop off in the lobby.  
Then suddenly it was really quiet.  
I went and looked the door to the control room was closed. I could hear banging from the other side faintly.  
I went and knocked on peoples doors but when i opened them no one was in them.  
All I could figure was that everyone was in the control room. And I was out here alone.

Ok don’t panic Y/N   
I knew this place was bad news. I just knew something was going to happen.  
I went and checked the room Daryl and I were using and it was empty.  
So he did move our bags down to the lobby.  
I went to the kitchen and dining area and started throwing food and drinks into bags.  
I found a dolly and after I had filled all the bags I loaded them onto it. And hauled it up the steps to the lobby.  
Then I went back to where I could see the control room door and waited.  
Within just a few minutes it whoshed open and everyone came pouring out.  
Daryl ran up to me, grabbed my hand and yanked me to the stairs.  
While we were running he told me the whole place was going to blow up.  
I hate being right.  
Finally everyone is in the lobby but the glass won’t break.   
Then Carol pulls a grenade out of her purse.  
Yay! But also who in Hell carries a grenade in their purse!!  
Seriously!!

Rick puts the grenade in place and pulls the pin then runs.  
The window and part of the wall explodes.  
People are starting to run towards the opening.  
“Everyone here grab some bags !!” I yelled tossing bags at people  
Everyone started grabbing what they could even the kids  
T-Dog grabbed the dolly and a couple other bags and took off for the cars.

Daryl herded me to his truck and pushed me inside and to the floor .  
Within minutes there was a loud explosion and heat flaring .  
We had all dropped the bags outside the vehicles while rushing for safety.  
Everyone went back out and grabbed the bags to start putting them wherever they would fit.  
Rick walked up to me  
“Y/N what's in the bags?” Rick asked  
“Supplies. I didn’t exactly trust Jenner so Daryl and I went around and gathered up what we could. While y'all were locked in the control room i cleared out as much as i could from the kitchen and dining area.” I said  
Rick Looked at me and smiled  
“You did all this?” He asked  
“Yes. Is that ok?” i asked  
“Ok … Oh honey! Yes it’s more then ok.” Lori said walking up to me and hugging me  
Carol was right behind her hugging me next  
“We need to get going there's walkers coming.” Daryl said  
Rick just smiled and gave me a one armed hug and kissed my forehead  
“It’s more than ok.” He said  
Daryl walked up and grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his truck  
“I got your bag already.” He said opening the door for me  
I just smiled

I really think i found my place now.  
I never smiled with my old group. I was always too worried I'd make somebody mad and they’d abandon me.  
This group already feels different. I feel welcome. Well by everyone but Shane but that’s ok.  
I have faith that they won’t leave me.  
I don’t know why I just do.  
Oh I know things will be hard this is a hard world we live in now.  
If i’m honest it wasn’t easy before the end either.  
But I feel like there's finally some hope. I didn’t have hope before I was just struggling to survive.  
And sitting here in this beat up truck next to this grumbly red neck i feel safer than i ever have.  
Go figure it took an apocalypse to find a family.

My momma used to say  
That when life is at it’s hardest is when you learn the most.  
And never mourn the endings because for every ending there’s a new beginning.  
I finally found my new beginning….


End file.
